As you sat on the train, you marvel the workmanship. Just as before, it was made from semi separate compartments. There was enough room to walk in, and they had limited privacy.
You remember the two guys had taken the space two rooms behind, and were monitoring the hallway. But that wouldn't be an issue in the slightest.
Wendy and Lucy had taken the seats by the window, away from the door. Erza and you were by the aisle, with you facing the caboose. Erza was tapping her fingers on the seat, and it was a pattern that sounded like a song, not random.
"I don't understand why we're leaving them. If they were spying on us, we should find out why." Erza said, her irritation coming to a peak.
You sigh, as she said this a few times already. "Mrs. Scarlett, how many times must I tell you. We need to wait until they attack, otherwise it will look very squicky. The counsel is already talking of nipping the guild due to the massive damage done. We need not antagonize them further."
Lucy raises a hand. "First, what does squicky mean? Second, can't you teleport into their car?"
You sigh, and start to message your temples. "Squicky is a term used to refer to disgust or horrified shock. I apologize, but that is a slang term." You pause, to take a breath, then continue.
"And as for the teleportation, it is anything but simple. I'm not technically teleporting. I'm bending space with the Requip ability. Different dimensions have different physical rules. I reduce the space I travel, but it is a real effort to do. Going from a stationary location while not moving is child's play. If one variable of movement is in place, its a headache, but do able. When I'm moving, AND my endpoint is moving, its a complete migraine."
You pause, as their eyes glazed over. But you weren't remotely finished. But it could be cut short.
"My point is, it would be much simpler to wait them out, and then defend. We impound them, and question them with the law's blessing, rather then be imprisoned for destroying a train full of people."
They all consider this, and seem to surrender to you. Erza looks anything but happy, but you left your violin at the guild.
"Anyway, what do we know about the guild?" Wendy asks, and that was, you noticed, the fifth or sixth time she had played ref.
You pull a notepad out, and flip to a page in the middle. "Alright, here is what I found. They have something around 80 members, but a fourth or so are strictly noncombat. Their either support to other members, or they have skills better for research. The Guildmaster is a shadow make mage, and a rather skilled one at that."
"Well, at least we have a rough idea of the odds." Lucy says, optimistically.
You give a small smile, then reply. "Yep, just 15 or 20 for each of us. Maybe more, if they had an influx recently. No pressure."
"Well, at least we have some information to use. Your idiosyncrasies have proven quiet interesting." Erza says, and you see a small grin on her face.
You pretend to be offended. You bring your hand to your chest. "You wound me, Ms. Scarlett."
This brings the mood back to cruising altitude. At least until..
A knocking from the car door. You turn to see a trolley, and a young woman standing behind it. A brunette, with kind hazel eyes. She wore a white blouse, close to the neck, with green highlights on the sides.
"Hello, can I interest you in anything?" She asks, politely as well as meekly.
"I suppose a water, if you have it." Lucy replies reaching for her wallet.
"Oh, your coworkers already paid for it." The girl replies, reaching for a shelf in the back.
Lucy pauses, and you all exchange a look.
"Sorry, but we were at a convention. Was it the husband and wife, or the two brothers?" You say, the fib rolling off your tongue. You had a list of them in your head, ready in a moment. The others took a second, but that was fine. You were in your domain.
The girl takes a second then replies. "The brothers. They asked to make sure you weren't overworking. The one in blue was very adamant on this fact." She almost broke her composure, but kept a semi straight face.
You let you face almost redden, and raise your voice an octave. "Oh. If you see them before we leave, tell them I said thanks."
She raises a brow, but doesn't say anything else. She hands each of us a bottle of water. She then steps out into the aisle, and slides the door shut.
You give her a second to go into the next car, then reach over and pluck the bottles from their hands. You open the window, and promptly toss them out. Finally, you sit down, as if nothing happened.
Lucy blinked, as you seemed to have moved rather quickly. "Um, why did you just toss those out the window?"
You look at her. "I was offended by the label." You say, and the pure ice in your tone gave her pause. You didn't want to snap, but you couldn't just say nothing.
Erza looks at you. "You think it was the two guys? Trying to poison us?"
You nod, then bring up the one in your hand. "Yes. That was why I tossed them out. But if you're thirsty, I have these." You produce a small red box, and open it to reveal it was a cooler. You produce three bottles, ice cold to the touch, though still liquid.
As they were passed out, you ask Wendy a question. "Is it true dragon slayers have a strong sense of smell?"
She nods, then takes a sip. "Why?"
"Well, most toxins aren't perceptible to the normal human nose. But yours isn't normal. I wondered if you could try to identify it."
She shrugs, them takes the item from your hand. As she unscrews the lid, you notice a disturbance at the bottom. A layer of powder, floating, and now breaking up and moving. "How novice are these twits!?" You think, annoyance filing your thoughts.
As she brings it up, you see that she closed her eyes. After a few seconds, she calmly says. "It smells like bitter almonds. Its really strong."
Hearing this you quickly fling it out the window as well. "That might just be Cyanide. If anything is to be said about those guys, there choice of poison is impeccable. Cyanide is the most mainstream chemical, and there is rarely a person to survive it."
The others blanch, but you can see why. "The poor tots probably didn't have many attempted poisonings on there record. With you, it was a monthly occurrence, if not a weekly one. I have a lot of people who wanted me six feet below.
"Shouldn't we have kept those as evidence? They would I've been quiet convincing." You look at Erza, who had a confused look in her eyes.
A blank look appears on your face before you can help it. Her raised eyebrows said it all.
"Anyhow.." You say, stirring the conversation in a more favorable direction. "Now we have iron clad reason to arrest them. Or at least someone on the train."
[Commercial Break to finish the trip]
As the four of you step out of the train, you realize something.
"Um, Wendy, don't you usually have your cat with you? Carla, I think."
Wendy was about to answer, until..
"WENDY!" You look over to see a flying white projectile. But, as you were carrying the bags, you couldn't intercept it. But when you saw the wings, as well as clothing you recognized what it was.
"What are you doing here? I thought you had something in Magnolia." Wendy says, astonished by the sudden appearance of her Exceed. "Did you come alone?"
Carla shakes her head, then points over to where Natsu and Gray were menacingly starring at each other, and you imagined lightning flashing between their eyes. You see Happy floating nearby, just starring at them like a rerun of an old soap opera.
"Hey guys." Lucy says, calmly waving at them.
The change they made in a second rivaled that of Erza from a few nights ago. They went from wanting to kill each other to...
"Hi good buddies. Just hanging around with my best friend." As well as. "Aye. Just two friends waiting for you guys."
You saw Lucy sigh, and Wendy shrug, so you assumed that this was natural for them.
As the two groups merged, Natsu talked to you in specific. "When we get balk to the guild, I want a rematch."
You give him a smile. "You're on. It will be a pleasure to beat you again.
"Wait, how did you know we were here?" Lucy asks, a look of confusion on her face.
Gray copies the look, before responding. "You guys told Mira you here taking this job. So we asked where you were, and she told us here."
You feel the three's eyes on you, but you couldn't help but notice the pillars in the station, and how they all faced away from the assembly.
"This was the job I told Mira about because I had a feeling Natsu would come charging to meet us. Carla not coming and Gray's accompaniment were just bonuses. We might have needed a few extra hands for this guild." "And I was testing their loyalty to you three." You think the last bit in your head.
"What do you mean, this job?" Gray says, before explained your taking three job sheets. After a moment of shock from the cats and boys, the mood's stability leveled out. At least it would have.
You feel that subtle pressure, just as the night before, but much weaker. Then, you realize your foolishness, and check the perimeter.
You see there were three or four dozen people, and half of them were tracking the group. They weren't even hiding the fact. What brand of idiots don't even know the basics of surveillance? If it was any consolation, they were at each exit.
You grin, then address the others. "Well, are we going to find a room to stay in?"
The others have no contest, and start to make their way to an exit. With a sigh, the bags dissolve and you start to follow.
When the others reach the center of the station, the strangers make a large, loose circle around them. It takes about three seconds for them to notice, and form a tight ring at each other's back. You can see them whispering to each other, but you didn't pretend to hear.
One of the hooligans steps up, as if he was the leader. "Listen up. We heard that you came here to make trouble for us."
You tuned out after that. You look up, and see an upper level. "Perfect sniper's nest." You think to yourself. And you see stairs leading up to them.
You catch Erza's eyes, then motion towards it. The flexing of your finger tells her your idea. Luckily, the group was the center of attention. You quietly sneak to the door, and slip inside.
Erza P.O.V.
"Well, we need to draw attention away for him." She thinks to herself. Whatever he had planned, he might would time to set up.
"So what do you plan on doing with us?" Lucy asks, keeping their eyes on her.
They start to laugh, finding what she said amusing.
"Oh, I think we'd find something to do with you. But we're just the retrieval team. You've been spoken for by our leader." The one evidently in charge said. He had a shock of greasy black hair, was in a ripped up pair of jeans, and a closed up red leather jacket.
Natsu starts to growl, and his hands start to smoke. "Why don't you come over here and say that."
The assembly start hollering, think it's an empty threat.
The ringleader cracks a grin as well. "You so passionate.. I can't wait to see that taken away."
A look of confusion takes each face, and a single question springs up. "What are you talking about?"
Another round of laughter, as the phrase was said in perfect unison.
"Why don't you come with us and find out?" Leather jacket says, then reached out with his hand.